{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-01T07:39:14.843Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"arrests","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2026","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":3,"coverage":{"cases":3,"countries":3,"languages":3,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":0,"coreRelations":2,"contextualRelations":1,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-yueqing-online-loan-fraud-ring-ai-voice-robot-calls-30-arrested","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'从正规平台贷出的15500元被骗得分文不剩。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'在正规平台申请贷款 15500 元'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In July 2026 a man in Yueqing seeking a loan for his child's summer tuition was guided by a supposed loan-platform agent into borrowing 15,500 yuan and transferring it to the fraudsters, losing the whole amount, and reported it to police.","causal_attribution":"Victim's account and police investigation as reported by CCTV."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'犯罪嫌疑人在AI平台付费获取动态账号密码，只需导入从非法渠道获取的手机号码库，设定好拨打时段和频率，系统便会自动批量拨号；'; '这套系统根据沟通中出现的几个关键词，对受害人进行A到F六个等级的分类'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'办案民警叶捷介绍称，该团伙通过 AI 机器人引流、再交由真人实施诈骗。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Police say the ring paid for accounts on an AI platform and used an AI voice system to dial imported phone numbers automatically, respond to people with scripted speech by keyword, sort them into six grades and transfer interested people to human operators.","causal_attribution":"Yueqing police description of the ring's method."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'那时候没听出来它是机器人，我以为是真人打过来的'; '警察跟我说了之前说话的是机器人'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Another victim said he had thought he was speaking with a human customer-service agent until police told him it was a robot.","causal_attribution":"Victim's statement to CCTV."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'在搜查中警方发现，这家公司在短短2个月时间内，竟然诈骗了上千人'; '目前，本案已抓获犯罪嫌疑人30名，冻结涉案资金100余万元，查缴各类作案工具百余件，团伙涉案流水超千万元。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'诈骗团伙在两个月内致上千人受骗，目前 30 名嫌疑人已被抓获，涉案流水超千万元。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Police say the ring defrauded more than a thousand people in two months; 30 suspects were detained on suspicion of fraud, more than 1 million yuan was frozen, and the ring's transactions exceeded 10 million yuan.","causal_attribution":"Police figures as reported; no court finding."}],"effects":[{"label":"defrauded of loan money after an AI voice-calling system screened and passed them to fraudsters posing as loan-platform staff","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.cnr.cn/newscenter/native/gd/20260929/t20260929_527828788.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read live in Simplified Chinese on 2026-10-01 (CNR copy of the CCTV News Fazhi Zaixian report of 29 September 2026; page encoded GB18030 and converted). Researcher translation.","independence_group":"cctv-fazhi-zaixian"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://finance.sina.cn/stock/jdts/2026-09-29/detail-initnsef2867793.d.html?vt=4","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read live in Simplified Chinese on 2026-10-01 (Sina Finance relay of IT Home's summary of the CCTV report). Researcher translation.","independence_group":"cctv-fazhi-zaixian"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance"],"unknowns":["Which AI platform supplied the calling accounts.","Whether the first victim's own call was placed by the AI system or a human agent; the report describes the AI system for the ring's calls generally.","The number of victims and losses beyond the police's 'more than a thousand' and the 10 million yuan transaction figure.","Charges and court outcomes."],"geography":{"basis":"The first reported victim lives in Yueqing, Zhejiang, and the call centre was in Changsha, Hunan (CCTV via CNR). No court step is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case: an AI voice system that spoke with people to screen them for a loan fraud. The account is the Yueqing police's, reported by CCTV and relayed by CNR and IT Home/Sina (one chain). Victims appear only by surname in the source and are not identified here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-01"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Yueqing police describe an AI voice-calling system rented from an AI platform that automatically called people, responded with scripted speech by keyword and classified them before transfer to human operators (CCTV via CNR; IT Home via Sina). A victim says police told him the voice he spoke with was a robot. The AI system spoke with the victims (communicated_with); the fraud itself was carried out by human operators. No platform is named.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Yueqing, China: a fraud ring posing as loan-platform staff used an AI voice-calling system to phone people and pass interested callers to human operators; police say it defrauded more than a thousand people in two months, including a man who lost a 15,500-yuan loan in July 2026, and 30 suspects were detained","summary":"According to police in Yueqing, Zhejiang, as reported by CCTV's Fazhi Zaixian programme on 29 September 2026, a man in Yueqing who wanted to borrow money for his child's summer tuition in July 2026 received a call from a supposed loan-platform agent who knew his borrowing history. Guided by the agent, he took out a 15,500-yuan loan on a legitimate platform and then transferred 5,500 yuan as a supposed 'funder's advance' and 10,000 yuan for supposed repayment, losing the whole amount. His report led police to a call centre in an office building in Changsha, Hunan. Police say the ring paid for accounts on an AI platform, loaded illegally obtained phone numbers, and let an AI voice system call people automatically with recorded scripts that responded to keywords, sorting them into six categories and transferring interested people to human operators; another victim said he had not realised the voice was a robot until police told him. Police say the ring defrauded more than a thousand people in two months, with victims including recent graduates and middle-aged and older people. Thirty suspects were detained on suspicion of fraud, more than 1 million yuan was frozen, and the ring's transactions exceeded 10 million yuan.","incidentDate":"2026-07-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-09-29","aiSystem":"An AI voice-calling system rented from an AI platform by the fraud ring, which placed automated calls with scripted responses and classified callees before transferring them to human operators (per Yueqing police)","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI voice-calling system","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Police say a fraud ring that used an AI voice-calling system to find and engage potential borrowers defrauded more than a thousand people in two months; one man lost a 15,500-yuan loan (Yueqing police via CCTV).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"Two victims are described: the Yueqing man who lost 15,500 yuan and a second victim who spoke with the AI system (CCTV via CNR). Police say the ring defrauded more than a thousand people ('上千人') in two months without an exact count or loss breakdown, so the remainder is unquantified. Partial, 2 counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.cnr.cn/newscenter/native/gd/20260929/t20260929_527828788.shtml","primarySourceLabel":"央广网 (CNR, relaying CCTV News), 29 September 2026: 法治在线丨利用AI批量拨号，两月上千人被骗！起底网贷诈骗新套路","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-01T03:18:00.879209+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-01T03:18:00.879209+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-voice-robot","loan-fraud","telecom-fraud","call-centre","china","zhejiang","yueqing","arrests"]},{"id":"2026-begusarai-bihar-ai-video-blackmail-sexual-assault-complaint","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'AI की मदद से मेरा न्यूड वीडियो बनाया और मुझे भेज दिया। वह मुझे ब्लैकमेल करना चाहता था'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'पीड़िता को एक फेक AI जेनरेटेड अश्लील वीडियो बनाकर भेज दिया और उससे बातचीत करने के लिए दबाव बनाने लगा'; 'लगातार AI वीडियो के जरिए ब्लैकमेल करता रहा'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'दोनों आरोपियों ने पहले AI की मदद से उसका एक फर्जी अश्लील वीडियो तैयार किया था'; 'इसी वीडियो को सार्वजनिक करने की धमकी देकर उससे पैसे मांगे गए'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'the two men had earlier used artificial intelligence to create a fake nude video of her and threatened to circulate it'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Four to five months before 27 September 2026 (three to four months, per her lawyer), a fake nude video of the woman was made with AI and sent to her to blackmail her. In her interview she attributes it to the first accused (Dainik Bhaskar); her complaint as reported by newstrack and Dynamite News attributes it to both accused and adds that they threatened to make it public and demanded money.","causal_attribution":"The complainant's account, her lawyer's account and her complaint as reported; the video was not inspected and police have not characterised it in the read sources."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'गेट बंद कर दी और चाकू का डर दिखाकर जबरदस्ती करने लगा'; 'तो उसने मेरा रेप किया और पूरी घटना का वीडियो भी बना लिया'; 'गले में फंदा लगाकर मेरी हत्या की कोशिश भी की'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'होटल के कमरे में ले जाकर आरोपियों ने दरवाजा बंद कर दिया तथा चाकू का भय दिखाकर पीड़िता के साथ जबरन दुष्कर्म किया और वीडियो बनाकर वायरल कर दिया'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'उसे धारदार हथियार दिखाकर डराया गया और उसके साथ दुष्कर्म किया गया'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"On 27 September 2026 the two men took her to a hotel room in Begusarai on the pretext of talking about the video; she says the first accused locked the door, threatened her with a knife, beat her, raped her while filming, and put a noose round her neck, and that she survived by locking herself in the bathroom.","causal_attribution":"Her account and complaint; Prabhat Khabar relays the complaint through the police. Hotel CCTV timings reported by police place the first accused and the woman in the room between about 7:33 am and 12:33 pm; the accused have not responded in the read reporting."},{"id":"c3","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'मामले से संबंधित मारपीट का वीडियो सोशल मीडिया पर वायरल होने के बाद पुलिस ने जांच शुरू की थी'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'घटना से जुड़ा एक वीडियो भी सोशल मीडिया पर सामने आया है'; 'वीडियो की स्वतंत्र पुष्टि नहीं हुई है'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'टेबल पर मोबाइल एडजस्ट कर खुद पिटाई का वीडियो बनाया और उसे सोशल मीडिया पर पोस्ट कर दिया'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A video showing the woman being beaten circulated on social media; police said inquiries began after it went viral, and newstrack said it had not verified the video.","causal_attribution":"Police (via Prabhat Khabar) and newstrack independently report the circulating video; newstrack says it had not verified it. The complainant says the accused filmed and posted it."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'पहले से AI के जरिए बनाए गए वीडियो और मारपीट के वीडियो को अलग-अलग वॉट्सएप ग्रुप में शेयर कर दिया'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'समूह के ग्रुप में डालकर वायरल कर दिया'; 'आरोपी ने पीड़िता का मोबाइल फोन भी तोड़कर खराब कर दिया, क्योंकि उसमें उसका भेजा हुआ AI वीडियो मौजूद था'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"She says the AI-made video and the assault video were sent from her phone to WhatsApp groups, including her self-help group's group, and that her phone was broken because it held the AI video.","causal_attribution":"Her account and her lawyer's; the police statement that the WhatsApp number used to circulate the video was blocked (Dainik Bhaskar) does not say which videos it carried."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'आवेदन के आधार पर नगर थाना कांड संख्या 451/26 दर्ज किया गया'; 'पुलिस ने एक नामजद आरोपी को गिरफ्तार किया है, जबकि दूसरे की गिरफ्तारी के लिए छापेमारी जारी है'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'28 सितंबर को दिन भर पीड़िता थानों का चक्कर लगाती रही बाद में एसपी के आदेश पर देर रात प्राथमिकी नगर थाने में दर्ज की गई'; 'दो नामजद आरोपी में से एक को गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया है'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'मामले की जांच को लेकर विशेष जांच टीम (SIT) का गठन किया गया है'; 'को नेपाल भागने के दौरान और उसके रिश्तेदार'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"An FIR was registered at Begusarai Nagar police station late on 28 September 2026 (case 451/26) after she spent the day going between police stations; the SP formed a special investigation team, hotel CCTV and the entry register were seized, one accused was reported arrested by the evening of 29 September (Prabhat Khabar; NewsTak) and the other, per Dainik Bhaskar on 30 September, while fleeing towards Nepal.","causal_attribution":"Police statements relayed by three outlets (the SP is quoted by NewsTak and Dainik Bhaskar); the delay in registering the FIR is her lawyer's account."}],"effects":[{"label":"blackmailed with an AI-made fake nude video of her that was later circulated","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"beaten and raped in a hotel room, with the assault filmed and circulated, per her complaint","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.bhaskar.com/local/bihar/begusarai/news/begusarai-jivika-didi-rape-blackmail-ai-video-case-updates-139196091.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"hi","translation_note":"Read live in Hindi on 2026-09-30 (Dainik Bhaskar, Begusarai correspondent, 30 September 2026): the woman's first-person account, her lawyer, and the SP. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"complainant-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.prabhatkhabar.com/state/bihar/begusarai/begusarai-blue-diamond-hotel-case-sit-formed-accused-arrested","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"hi","translation_note":"Read live in Hindi on 2026-09-30 (Prabhat Khabar, 29 September 2026): police account of the complaint, FIR number, SIT, CCTV and the first arrest. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"begusarai-police"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.newstak.in/bihar/story/begusarai-hotel-case-rohit-kumar-viral-video-ai-blackmail-full-details-brytgc-3288643-2026-09-29","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"hi","translation_note":"Read live in Hindi on 2026-09-30 (NewsTak, 29 September 2026): the complainant's lawyer's account and the SP's statement. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"complainant-account"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://newstrack.com/amp/bihar/begusarai-woman-rape-hotel-ai-generated-obscene-video-blackmail-635806","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"hi","translation_note":"Read live in Hindi on 2026-09-30 (newstrack.com, 29 September 2026, AMP page): the complaint as reported and the circulating video. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"complainant-account"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.dynamitenews.com/crime/begusarai-woman-assaulted-for-hours-over-threat-to-leak-ai-generated-video","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-09-30 (Dynamite News, 29 September 2026); relays the complaint and cites the Times of India for the video.","independence_group":"complainant-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["Which tool made the earlier video and whether police have examined it.","Whether the accused have been charged or produced in court, and any response from them.","How widely the videos spread and whether they have been taken down."],"geography":{"basis":"The hotel is in Begusarai town, Bihar, and the FIR was registered at Begusarai Nagar police station (Prabhat Khabar; Dainik Bhaskar); the complainant lives in the same district (Dainik Bhaskar). No court proceeding is reported yet.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IN"],"affected_person_countries":["IN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case (an AI-made fake nude video depicting a real person, used to blackmail her, followed by a reported violent sexual assault and circulation of the videos). The account is the complainant's, through her interview, her lawyer and her FIR, with police confirming the FIR, investigation team and arrests. The woman is not named; the accused, hotel and room are not identified here; no sexual detail beyond the complaint's substance is reproduced.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complainant says the first accused made a nude video of her 'with the help of AI' four to five months earlier and sent it to her (Dainik Bhaskar); her lawyer calls it a fake AI-generated obscene video (NewsTak); her complaint as reported by newstrack and Dynamite News says the same. The police statements read (Prabhat Khabar; the SP via NewsTak and Dainik Bhaskar) describe the assault video and the arrests and do not characterise the earlier video. The video was not inspected and no tool is named.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Begusarai, Bihar: a 22-year-old woman says a man who had pursued her made a fake nude video of her with AI months earlier to blackmail her, then on 27 September 2026 he and a relative took her to a hotel room where she was beaten and raped and the videos were circulated; FIR registered, SIT formed, both accused arrested","summary":"A 22-year-old woman in Begusarai district, Bihar, told police, her lawyer and Dainik Bhaskar that a man from the village of her maternal relatives, who had pursued her and been refused, made a nude video of her with AI about four to five months earlier and sent it to her in an attempt to blackmail her. On the morning of 27 September 2026, she says, his brother-in-law, her neighbour, gave her a motorcycle lift while she was out collecting self-help-group dues and took her to meet him, and the two men led her into a hotel room 'to talk' about the video. In her account the room was locked, she was threatened with a knife, beaten and raped, the assault was filmed, a noose was put round her neck, and the AI-made video and the assault video were sent to WhatsApp groups, including her self-help group's; she hid in the bathroom until the man left. A video of the beating spread on social media. After she spent 28 September going between police stations, an FIR was registered at Begusarai Nagar police station late that night (case 451/26); the SP formed a special investigation team, seized hotel CCTV and the entry register, and one accused was reported arrested by the evening of 29 September (Prabhat Khabar; NewsTak). Dainik Bhaskar reported on 30 September that the main accused had been arrested while fleeing towards Nepal. The AI element rests on the complainant's account; the police statements read describe the assault video and the arrests without characterising the earlier video.","incidentDate":"2026-09-27","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-29","aiSystem":"AI-generated fake nude video of the complainant, sent to her months before the assault (her account; tool not identified)","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","physical_injury","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A woman says she was blackmailed with an AI-made fake nude video and then beaten and raped in a hotel room, with the AI video and the assault video circulated to WhatsApp groups (her complaint and account via Dainik Bhaskar, NewsTak and newstrack; police confirm the FIR, SIT and arrests).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the complainant (Dainik Bhaskar; Prabhat Khabar). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.bhaskar.com/local/bihar/begusarai/news/begusarai-jivika-didi-rape-blackmail-ai-video-case-updates-139196091.html","primarySourceLabel":"Dainik Bhaskar (Begusarai), 30 September 2026: AI वीडियो बनाकर ब्लैकमेलिंग, होटल में रेप: बाथरूम में बंद होकर बचाई जान","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:38.672044+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:38.672044+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfakes","ai-generated-video","sextortion","blackmail","sexual-violence","bihar","india","fir","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2026-southampton-choudhury-arrested-after-retrospective-facial-recognition-match-milton-keynes-burglary","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"was working at the home he shares with his parents in Southampton in January","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"handcuffed him and held him in custody for nearly 10 hours before releasing him at 2am.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"On 8 January 2026 Mr Alvi Choudhury was arrested on suspicion of a burglary that had occurred 100 miles away from where he was at the time.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Choudhury is claiming damages against Thames Valley police and Hampshire constabulary, which executed his arrest.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"But the arresting officers from Hampshire Constabulary didn’t want to know.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Alvi Choudhury was arrested at the home he shares with his parents in Southampton on 8 January 2026 on suspicion of a burglary in Milton Keynes, handcuffed and held in custody for nearly 10 hours until released at 2am. Hampshire Constabulary officers carried out the arrest.","causal_attribution":"Event description only. The account comes from Choudhury and his solicitors through the Guardian, Liberty Investigates and a chambers news post. The Thames Valley Police statement quoted by the Guardian treats the arrest as having happened and apologises for the distress caused. The 8 January date appears only in the chambers post (the Guardian says January)."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Thames Valley police had used automated facial recognition software which matched him with footage of a suspect of a £3,000 burglary 100 miles away in Milton Keynes","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"following a retrospective facial recognition match, and was not influenced by racial profiling.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"A week later, after filing a complaint against Thames Valley Police, he found out the full story: he’d been flagged as a possible suspect by an automated facial recognition system.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"UK police forces use an algorithm procured by the Home Office from Cognitec, a German company.","relation":"context","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Thames Valley Police used automated retrospective facial recognition software that matched Choudhury with CCTV footage of a suspect in the Milton Keynes burglary. Choudhury says he learned about a week after the arrest, after filing a complaint, that an automated facial recognition system had flagged him as a possible suspect.","causal_attribution":"The Guardian bases the match on documents shared by Liberty Investigates, which were not inspected. The police spokesperson statement quoted in the same report itself refers to a retrospective facial recognition match. The sources do not state which product, version, threshold or match score applied to this search."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Thames Valley police said the decision to arrest Choudhury was made after a human visual assessment as well.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"A Thames Valley police spokesperson denied the arrest was unlawful and said: “While we apologise for the distress caused to the complainant in this case","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Facial matches should be treated as intelligence, not fact, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Thames Valley Police told the Guardian that the decision to arrest was made after a human visual assessment as well as the match, denied that the arrest was unlawful and said it was not influenced by racial profiling, and apologised for the distress caused. The Guardian reports the National Police Chiefs’ Council position that facial matches should be treated as intelligence, not fact.","causal_attribution":"A party statement about its own conduct, relayed by the Guardian. It addresses the arrest decision and gives no detail of the match."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"“I was very angry, because the kid looked about 10 years younger than me,” said Choudhury, who wears a beard.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"He offered evidence of work meetings in Southampton on the day of the crime but he was instead taken into custody.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"But Choudhury said officers at the Hampshire police station laughed when he asked: “Does this look anything like me?”","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"And he said the Thames Valley police officers who arrived to interview him said “they knew I wasn’t the suspect after looking at footage of the suspect and looking at my picture”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Choudhury says the man in the CCTV footage looked about 10 years younger than Choudhury and had different features, that he offered evidence of work meetings in Southampton on the day of the burglary, that officers at the Hampshire police station laughed when he asked whether the footage looked like him, and that the Thames Valley Police officers who came to interview him said they knew he was not the suspect after looking at the footage and his picture.","causal_attribution":"First-person account relayed by the Guardian. The CCTV footage and the police interview record were not inspected, and no source independent of Choudhury describes the suspect’s appearance or the interview."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Thames Valley police admitted to Choudhury the arrest “may have been the result of bias within facial recognition technology”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Thames Valley Police wrote to Choudhury, acknowledging that his arrest “may have been the result of bias within facial recognition technology”","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"as the use of facial recognition is already subject to review at a strategic level, I do not feel the need to raise this issue as part of wider organisational learning","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Thames Valley Police wrote to Choudhury that the arrest “may have been the result of bias within facial recognition technology”. An officer also told him that, because facial recognition use is already subject to review at a strategic level, the issue would not be raised as part of wider organisational learning.","causal_attribution":"Quotations from a police letter to Choudhury as relayed by the Guardian and Liberty Investigates. The letter itself was not inspected. The wording is conditional (“may have been”)."},{"id":"c6","status":"disputed","evidence":[{"locator":"“I just assumed that the investigative officer saw that I was a brown person with curly hair and decided to arrest me.”","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"their arrest was based on the investigating officers’ own visual assessment that the individual matched the suspect in CCTV footage","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Confusingly, however, the force concluded that his arrest was not a case of racial profiling, because officers had made their own assessment of the images before arresting him.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Whether the facial recognition match or the officers’ own visual assessment led to the arrest decision, and whether bias in the software contributed, is disputed. Choudhury says he assumed the investigating officer saw a brown person with curly hair and decided to arrest him. Thames Valley Police say the arrest rested on the investigating officers’ own visual assessment following the match and was not influenced by racial profiling, while also acknowledging in writing that the arrest may have been the result of bias within facial recognition technology.","causal_attribution":"Two accounts that conflict on the decisive input to the arrest. Neither the match record nor the officers’ assessment record was inspected."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"His neighbours saw him being led away in handcuffs, his father was very anxious about him being held and he was unable to work the following day, he said.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"He sometimes needs security clearance to work for government clients and he is asked about arrests and said: “This makes me look dodgier and dodgier.”","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Now he has had a second mugshot taken he is afraid the automated system could trigger more wrongful arrests.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"While we apologise for the distress caused to the complainant in this case","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Choudhury reports that neighbours saw him led away in handcuffs, that his father was very anxious about him being held, and that he was unable to work the following day. He says he sometimes needs security clearance to work for government clients, is asked about arrests, and that “This makes me look dodgier and dodgier”, and that he is afraid the automated system could trigger more arrests now that a second mugshot has been taken.","causal_attribution":"First-person account relayed by the Guardian. The police apology for distress caused is the only independent acknowledgement of an effect. No effect on an actual clearance decision is reported."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Choudhury’s mugshot was held on the police system only because he had been wrongly arrested in 2021 when he had been attacked on a night out","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The police released him with no further action.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"comparing images taken from sources such as social media and CCTV to a database of more than 19m custody images, or mugshots.","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Choudhury’s image was held on the police system only because of an arrest in 2021 that the Guardian describes as wrongful (he had been attacked on a night out) and that ended with police releasing him with no further action.","causal_attribution":"Background as told by Choudhury to the Guardian. The sources do not state in terms that this custody image was the one returned by the search."},{"id":"c9","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Choudhury is claiming damages against Thames Valley police and Hampshire constabulary, which executed his arrest.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"after filing a complaint against Thames Valley Police","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"to pursue a claim for damages against Thames Valley Police for false imprisonment, breach of data protection law, breach of Art 8 ECHR and breach of the Equality Act 2010.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Choudhury filed a complaint against Thames Valley Police and is claiming damages from Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary. His solicitors have instructed counsel to pursue a claim for damages against Thames Valley Police for false imprisonment, breach of data protection law, breach of Article 8 ECHR and breach of the Equality Act 2010.","causal_attribution":"A complaint and a claim establish only their own existence and the allegations made. No court filing or outcome was found in the inspected sources."},{"id":"c10","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"This is the FR software currently used in the Police National Database (PND) for which the operational use case is Retrospective Facial Recognition (RFR).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"The FPIR for White subjects (0.04 %) is lower than that for Asian subjects (4.0 %)","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"At a face-match threshold of 0.8:","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"A National Physical Laboratory report for the Home Office and the Office of the Policing Chief Scientific Adviser (dated October 2025) evaluated Cognitec FaceVACS-DBScan ID v5.5, which it describes as the facial recognition software used in the Police National Database for retrospective facial recognition. At a face-match threshold of 0.8 on its test data it found a false positive identification rate of 4.0 % for Asian subjects and 0.04 % for White subjects.","causal_attribution":"The report establishes the evaluation findings on its own test dataset. It does not state which product version, threshold or settings applied to the search in this case."}],"effects":[{"label":"Arrested at home and held in custody for nearly 10 hours after a police retrospective facial recognition match","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"Distress acknowledged by the police, a lost working day and worry about future arrests and security clearance, as reported by Choudhury","claim_id":"c7","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/25/facial-recognition-error-prompts-police-to-arrest-asian-man-for-burglary-100-miles-away","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"guardian-liberty-investigates-reporting"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://libertyinvestigates.org.uk/articles/the-rise-of-facial-recognition-policing/","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"guardian-liberty-investigates-reporting"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/news/automated-facial-recognition-software-innocent-man-arrested","kind":"organisation_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read through an Internet Archive capture of 22 April 2026 because the site returned HTTP 403 to direct requests.","independence_group":"claimant-legal-team-post"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/693002a4cdec734f4dff4149/1a_Cognitec_NPL_Equitability_Report_October_25.pdf","kind":"official_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"npl-evaluation-report"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice","privacy"],"unknowns":["Which product, version, face-match threshold and match score the Thames Valley Police search used is not stated. The National Physical Laboratory report evaluates Cognitec FaceVACS-DBScan ID v5.5 (the Police National Database software) at stated thresholds, and the sources do not say those settings applied here.","The documents shared with the Guardian, the police letter to Choudhury, the CCTV footage and the police interview record were not inspected. All account details come from news reports and a chambers post.","Whether the human visual assessment preceded the arrest request, which force made the request and which force made the decision are stated differently by Choudhury, his solicitors and the police, and no record was inspected.","Whether a court claim was filed and the outcome of the complaint and the damages claim are not reported in any inspected source (the latest inspected reports are dated 1 April 2026).","The date 8 January 2026 comes from the news post of the claimant’s counsel (Internet Archive capture). The Guardian says only January. Distances given by outlets differ (100 miles in the Guardian) and are not material.","The burglary, the burglary suspect and any prosecution are not described in the inspected sources."],"geography":{"basis":"The arrest took place at Choudhury’s home in Southampton and the burglary was in Milton Keynes, both placed in England by the Guardian (Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary are the forces named). No court proceedings are reported, so court countries are unknown.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":["GB"]},"publication":{"basis":"The Guardian article and the Liberty Investigates April feature were read in full from saved bodies. They come from one Liberty Investigates investigation built on an interview with Choudhury, documents shared with the Guardian and police statements, so they count as one reporting chain. The arrest date comes from the claimant’s counsel and the technical context from the National Physical Laboratory report, cited for its own contents. Claims about the arrest stay at reported status, the decisive causal question is recorded as disputed because Thames Valley Police dispute the causal account, and only the contents of the National Physical Laboratory report are recorded as documented. Choudhury is named because he spoke about the arrest under his own name to the Guardian and Liberty Investigates. The burglary suspect is not named or described beyond the reported age difference.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Thames Valley Police’s own statement, quoted by the Guardian, refers to a retrospective facial recognition match preceding the arrest, and the Guardian cites documents shared by Liberty Investigates. The police say the arrest decision rested on the investigating officers’ own visual assessment. Choudhury says the footage showed a man who looked about 10 years younger with different features, and that he assumed the investigating officer decided to arrest him because he is a brown person with curly hair. The police also wrote that the arrest may have been the result of bias within the technology. The weight of the match in the arrest decision is disputed. The sources do not identify the product version, threshold or match score.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Southampton: Alvi Choudhury arrested at home on suspicion of a Milton Keynes burglary after a police retrospective facial recognition match, held nearly 10 hours, claiming damages","summary":"The Guardian, in a joint report with Liberty Investigates, reported on 25 February 2026 that Alvi Choudhury, a 26-year-old software engineer, was arrested at his home in Southampton in January 2026 on suspicion of a £3,000 burglary in Milton Keynes, about 100 miles away, and held in custody for nearly 10 hours. Thames Valley Police had used automated retrospective facial recognition software, which matched him with CCTV footage of the burglary suspect. Choudhury says the man in the footage looked about 10 years younger and had different features. Thames Valley Police wrote to him that the arrest may have been the result of bias within facial recognition technology, and told the Guardian that the decision rested on the investigating officers’ own visual assessment and was not influenced by racial profiling. Choudhury is claiming damages from Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary.","incidentDate":"2026-01-08","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-02-25","aiSystem":"Retrospective facial recognition search run by Thames Valley Police (product, version and reference database not stated in the sources)","aiProduct":"Unidentified facial recognition system","aiCompany":"Not stated in the sources for this search (the Guardian says UK police forces use an algorithm procured by the Home Office from Cognitec)","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["loss_of_liberty","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The Guardian reports Choudhury was handcuffed at home, held for nearly 10 hours and released at 2am, and was unable to work the following day. Choudhury says neighbours saw him led away. Thames Valley Police apologised for the distress caused and deny the arrest was unlawful.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"disputed","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One man reported arrested and held. His father, neighbours and the burglary suspect are not counted as harmed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"GB","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/25/facial-recognition-error-prompts-police-to-arrest-asian-man-for-burglary-100-miles-away","primarySourceLabel":"The Guardian with Liberty Investigates (25 Feb 2026): Facial recognition error prompts police to arrest Asian man for burglary 100 miles away","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T21:15:56.164264+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:54.246626+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2026"]}]}